Weekend delivers steady rise of COVID-19 infections in Alberta

CALGARY — This past weekend in Alberta saw nearly 2,000 new cases of COVID-19 being reported — with hospitalizations also continuing to steadily increase.

Over the last three days, the province reported:

• 821 new cases on Friday after 8,959 tests were completed — a positivity rate of around 9.2 per cent
• 678 new cases on Saturday after 8,403 tests were completed — a positivity rate of around 8.1 per cent
• 473 new cases on Sunday after 5,590 tests were completed — a positivity rate of around 8.5 per cent

 

While reported cases declined each day through the weekend, positivity rates stayed at a relatively high level compared to what Alberta saw just two weeks ago, when positivity percentages were in the five to six per cent range.

NEW:

– 821 new COVID cases in Alberta on Friday on 8959 tests (9.2%+)
– 678 new cases on Saturday on 8403 tests (8.1%+)
– 473 new cases on 5590 tests on Sunday (8.5%+)

– 5 new deaths
– 244 in hospital (+21), incl 54 in ICU (+6)
– 7777 active cases (+1068)#Yeg #Yyc #ableg pic.twitter.com/p1cGWvN4AA

— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) August 23, 2021

There are now 7,777 active cases of COVID-19 in the province — an increase of 1,068 from Friday’s update.

Hospitalizations also continue to climb, with 244 people in hospital, an increase of 21 since the end of last week.

Meanwhile, six additional people were admitted to the ICU, for an active total of 54.

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Of the 244 people currently in hospital with COVID-19, 193 are unvaccinated. While 48 of 54 people in the ICU also have yet to receive the shot.

There were five additional deaths reported on Monday, for a total of 2,348 COVID-19 related deaths to date.

When it comes to active infections in the province, Calgary continues to lead the way with 1,804 — though Edmonton is slowly catching up with 1,723 active cases.

On the vaccination front, the province is approaching 5.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered.

Over the last three days, nearly 17,700 vaccine doses were delivered.

As of Monday, 77.3 per cent of the eligible population in Alberta has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while 68.8 per cent are fully vaccinated.